Lead photo: Founder, Nord Automobiles, Oluwatobi Joshua Ajayi
NORD Automobiles was founded by Oluwatobi Joshua Ajayi. He earned a degree in Soil Science and Farm Mechanization from Olabisi Onabanjo University and later completed an MBA at Lagos Business School, adding an EMBA certificate from IESE Business School, Spain.
After serving in the NYSC program with Mercedes‑Benz Nigeria, he swiftly rose to head the van division, increasing market share from less than 1% to around 7% between 2013 and 2015 and earning the Mercedes‑Benz Best Sales Performance for Africa award in 2013.
In 2015, he co‑founded Jetvan Automobiles Limited and led that until founding Nord Automobiles in 2018 with a vision of creating an affordable, durable, locally assembled vehicle brand.
Although the Nord brand was conceived in 2016 and vehicles were unveiled in December 2020. Nord operates its main assembly facility in Sangotedo; the company also owns an additional site in Epe.
It has an additional plant within the University of Lagos grounds that was opened in late 2022 for local assembly and possible component manufacturing. The company has locations in 4th Avenue, Gwarimpa, and Tito Broz Street, Asokoro, Abuja.
Nord assembles various vehicles in Nigeria, rebadging Chinese-made models, which include the A3 sedan, A5, and upcoming A7 and A9 SUVs, Tank, Max, and Tusk pick-up trucks, and Yarn, Tripper, and Flit buses/shuttles.
Credit: Naijaonpoint